1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for ultrasonic energy coupling, and more particularly to a system and method for transferring vibratory mechanical energy to an object by irrigating the object with a fluid.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
The present invention finds particular utility in automated analysis instrument systems in which it may facilitate mixing liquids with other liquids or powders with liquids and/or dissolving tablets in liquids. However, the present invention has utility in a wide variety of other applications which require similar functions.
Some prior analysis instrument systems use ultrasonic energy to provide mixing and other functions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,159 to Liston describes such a system with an assembly for dissolving reagent tablets. The assembly includes a continuous cuvette belt which advances reaction compartments into a liquid bath and an ultrasonic horn disposed in the bath which transfers the energy from the horn to the reaction compartments. This assembly is unnecessarily complex and expensive to manufacture. In addition, it does not provide an efficient transfer of energy.
Another prior practice for mixing or dissolving sample constituents includes placing the tip of an ultrasonic horn directly into a sample to accomplish the intended function. This practice presents cross-contamination problems in automated applications in which a system must provide the intended function to a large number of samples. Such applications require an additional washing step to remove contaminants from the horn tip.
The present invention avoids the disadvantages of the prior devices and practices. It provides a simple and effective system and method of transferring vibratory mechanical energy to an object by irrigating the object with an energy transferring fluid.